Asian American Students' Association records now available via SDR

The University Archives is pleased to showcase the results of ongoing efforts to collect and make available online born-digital materials from Stanford student organizations. The first such collection to be made available via the Stanford Digital Repository is records of the annual "Listen to the Silence" conference organized by the Asian American Students' Association (AASA).

AASA, founded at Stanford in 1971, serves the Asian Pacific Islander Community at Stanford through education, organization, service, and action. In addition to being an independent organization, AASA is also the coordinating umbrella organization for over 30 other officially or unofficially affiliated Asian Pacific American groups on campus and is dedicated to fostering open communication and cooperation among these different groups. AASA sponsors several major events each year, including an Asian American issues conference, "Listen to the Silence" (LTS).

From the LTS website:

"Listen to the Silence" began at Stanford in 1995 out of the need to increase the visibility of Asian American issues and to educate those in the community and beyond about the conditions of the Asian American community. The conference goals have since expanded to include the empowerment of Asian American students to take direct action to improve their communities and work towards social justice. Through the various workshops hosted by students, nonprofits, and community leaders, the Listen to the Silence conference provides a platform for discussion about the intersections of history, identity, and social change to provide an avenue for taking action and creating cross-cultural and cross-campus coalitions. Ultimately, the Listen to the Silence conference aims to provide tangible tools and resources to inspire, educate, and empower participants to work towards creating a more equitable and fair society as part of the broader movement for social justice.

The University Archives is working on similar projects with other other student organizations to document and preserve their unique Stanford experience. We look forward to providing updates on our progress.